Collection Scope and Content Note

The diary contains brief daily accounts (3 to a page) of the boy's daily activities consisting mostly of school, church meetings, chores, purchasing food and supplies, and visiting friends as well as what visitors his family received. It covers January to December of 1865 with some months apparently torn out. The condition of the diary is poor and since much is written in pencil, whole sections are illegible. Since Meeker was quite young when these accounts were written there are no real insights of depth, but only simple accounts such as, "Attended school today." Much of December is used for itemized lists of goods with prices and there are five poems or notes written to him by friends and family in the "Memoranda" section.